Rail-chair



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J.'JOHNSON. RAIL CHAIR! No. 451,823. Patented May 5, 1891.

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' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. JOHNSON.

RAIL CHAIR.

(No Model.)

No. 451,823. Patented May 5, 1891.

FIGIH STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN JOHNSON, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

RAIL-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,823, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed .Ianuary 5, 1891- Serial No. 376,765. (No model.)

To (1 whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Memphis, in

the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to chairs for railwayrails in general, but more particularly it has reference to chairs for rails of street-railways; and it has for its object a device for this purpose which shall be very simple in construction and easy of manufacture and yet have a maximum degree of strength, durability, and efficiency, capable of application to the rail without the employment of screws, bolts, or spikes, or other like devices, and shall be readily removable and self-adjusting.

The invention consists in certain features of novelty hereinafter fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure I is a transverse sectional view of my improved chair on the line I I, Fig. II, showing the rail locked in position. Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. III is a view similar to Fig. I, but of a modified form. Fig. IV is a plan view of the said modified form, showing the rail in position with its head broken away and the locking-keyomitted; and Fig. Vis a perspective view of the locking-key.

Like signs of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The chair has a foot or base flange 1, provided with any suitable openings, such as the notches 2, for the passage of the spikes for securing it to the cross-tie or sleeper, and it is cored out from end to end, as shown at 3, for the sake of economy. The top of the chair is provided with a flat rail-seat 4, which is preferably only as wide as the foot-flange 5 of the rail, and to one side of this seat 4 is an inturned retaining-flange 6, made integral with the body of the chair and being of the well-known and usual construction. One side of the rail is held in place by this flange 6, while the other side is securely clamped upon the seat 4 and held against transverse movement by an inturned overlapping flange 7 and a flat plate or bar 8, on the upper edge of which the latter flange7 is formed. Formed along the lower edge of this bar or plate 8 is an inturned key or wedge 9, whose shape is dovetailed in transverse section, as shown in Fig. I, and wedge-shaped longitudinally, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. II. This wedgeshaped dovetail key is adapted to be slipped or driven longitudinally into a groove or socket 10, formed along the chair in its upright side 11 below the seat 4, and which is complementary in shape to the key 9, so that when the smaller end of the key is placed in the larger end of the groove with the flange 7 resting on the foot of the'rail and driven home, the incline 12, acting upon the incline 13 of the groove, will cause the flange 7 to clamp the foot 5 firmly to the seat 4, and at the same time the inclines in cross-section will hold the key against outward displacement and also Wedge it against retrograde movement.

While the lower salient edge of the groove 10 is very desirable for insuring against the outward movement of the key, yet such lower edge is not absolutely essential, and may be omitted without departing from the spirit of my invention, because it is only absolutely essential that the wall 11 be provided below the seat 4 with an outturned overhanging ledge inclined in both directions, as described, for the inturned key 9 to engage with. Such a ledge is formed by the upper side of the groove 10.

In the modification shown in Figs. III, IV, and V, I provide the edge of the chair-seat i with a fixed, guard or shoulder 14, which extends along the edge of'the seat and projects upward a sufficient height to come above the foot-flange 5 of the rail. The. outer edge or side of this shoulder 14 is preferably straight, like the wall 11; but its inner edge is tapered or wedge-shaped in the direction of its length, as clearly shown in Fig. IV, thus forming a bevel 15. The overlapping flange 7 in this instance is cut away at 16 for the purpose of admitting the upwardly-projecting shoulder 14 and at the same time forming a longitudinal edge 17, which engages with the beveled edge 15 when the locking-key is slipped into place, and tends to draw the flange 7 toward the rail in a horizontal direction, thus sliding the lower inclined face 18 transversely across the sloping foot-flange. 5, and thereby more Ice firmly clamping the rail to its seat and at the same time securely holding the upper part of the locking-key against outward displacement. For the sake of giving the parts an even and more solid hearing, I also incline the inner edge 17 of the flange 7 in the direction of its length, as shown in Fig. V.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my improved chair may be applied to rails having foot-flanges of various thicknesses, it only being necessary to drive the key more or less into the groove, and it will also be observed that the key when once wedged home retains itself in position by virtue of the adverse friction produced between it and the sides of the groove.

( Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination of the chair having the rail-seat, the retaining-flange 6, the wall 11, extending downward from said seat, and an overhanging longitudinally-inclined ledge formed on said wall below the rail-seat and a wedge-shaped key fitting under said ledge and having a flange adapted to impinge the rail, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the chair having the rail-seat, the retaining-flange 6, the wall 11, extending downwardly from the said seat, and an outwardly-projecting ledge formed on said wall below said seat and being inclined trans- Versely and longitudinally, and the plate 8, having the flange 7 on its upper edge and the dovetail wedge-shaped key on its lower edge projecting inwardly under the said inclined ledge, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the chair having the rail-seat, the retaining-flange 6, and the wall 11, extending downwardly from the said seat and having the longitudinal wedge-shaped dovetail groove 10 below said seat, and the flat bar 8, having at its upper edge the inturned flange 7 and along its lower edge an inwardly-projecting wedge-shaped key dovetailed in cross-section and adapted to fit in said groove 10, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the chair having the rail-seat, the retaining-flange 6 on one side, the upwardly-proj ecting shoulder on the other side forming an edge and the overhanging inclined ledge formed below said shoulder, and a wedge-shaped key fitting under said shoulder and having the flange 7 cut away to form the edge 17 for engaging the edge 15, one of said edges being inclined or beveled in the direction of its length, substantially as set forth.

JOHN JOHNSON. Witnesses:

Jos. E. DOLAN, GEO. W. LEWIS. 

